The Teen Girl's Survival Guide: Ten Tips for Making Friends, Avoiding Drama, and Coping with Social Stress (The Instant…

Ok but not applicable for girls outside of a normal socio-economic status and caucasian ethnicity or culture.

Rather than attempting to be a comprehensive, overbearing, 'cover to cover fix' for all teen problems, author Lucie Hemmen has chosen to focus in on 10 key problems teen girls face. The use of young adults to recount the things that did and didn't work for them paired with 'exercises' at the back work together to make a friendly tone that doesn't talk down to teens. As a parent, I found the book to be quite good. For my 12 year old, who is about transition into middle school from 6th grade, she found it useful to identify areas/issues that could become very problematic in coming years. The results of doing the CBT-themed exercises were surprising.The book breaks down into 10 'tips': Know what you bring to the party, Leave your comfort zone, Increase contact, Nurture connections, Weed out negative social habits, Communicate through conflict, Communicate for closeness, Be your best self in social media and texting, Be more and think less, Practice balance.All topics are rooted in CBT (cognitive behavior therapy): being mindful rather than instinctual as well as writing down thoughts/ideas. As such, there is a lot of 'extra' work in each chapter of actually writing things such as "positive thoughts today' or "qualities my friends like in me". Fortunately, they aren't daunting and written well to be interesting.Overall, the focus is on being confident and true to oneself as well as developing positive interpersonal skills (e.g., being involved and having great friends). This is more for your average teen girl rather than a very troubled one having issues with sex and drugs at a young age. It's more about building than fixing, in that respect.My daughter and I have read other CBT type books but I feel this one has a great balance of applicability to brevity. It doesn't try to cover too much and isn't so wordy that it talks down to teens. The author cleverly uses examples from older girls to make a lot of the points and then summarizes them to drive the points home. The exercises turn that information into direct applicability to each teen so the concepts are no longer general or nebulous.In all, both my daughter and I found the book to be very helpful and useful. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I got this for my niece before she enters her freshmen year of high school. She's had some issues with two-faced friends and really enjoyed the book and it's perspective.

I think this book is more for high school girls. I bought it for my 12 year old granddaughter and I think it may be a little over her head at this point. Oh well, if she reads it now, she'll be well prepared for high school.

Ugh.....trying to make sure my 14 yr old has all the help she can get for high school. There's a reason for the "mean girl" stereotype.She enjoys this book and we discuss it as she reads.

Great for middle schoolers. This is a challenging time for young girls and this book helps them stay on track along with your guidance.

Would recommend for pre teen girls

Gift for a shy young lady who just turned 13. She appreciated it.

An ok read but without having any graphics or illustrations my daughter found it less inspiring than hoped as despite some good information within the text it feels a bit of a chore to read when presented in such an uninteresting style. Didnt learn anything particularly new as advice is quite basic but some relevant parts of the book could prove useful to young teens.

I bought it for my 13 year old to read but it looks like the writing style (Don’t think teens have the patience or aptitude to follow the instructive mode of writing) is more suited for me... 😛 plus it’s got loads of stuff that my 13 year old gets from me already.. I’m guessing it’s for the top 1% teenagers who are doing well in their lives already

Not easy to read, very heavy style and layout. Daughter daunted by task and so hasn't. Even parent has struggled to engage

Brought for my Nieces 13th Birthday. She has found it very helpful. Well written with humour.

Great book, my daughter enjoyed it